Two accidents in one hour in Saratoga Springs; one car into Congress Park, one car into building

Saratoga Springs Department of Public Works employee Mark Milks works on replacing the fence that surrounds Congress Park after the driver of a Cadillac Escalade plowed through it Sunday evening. (ERICA MILLER/emiller@saratogian.com)

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Over the course of one hour Sunday night, two vehicles several blocks away from one another went off the road and damaged properties in downtown Saratoga Springs.

At around 7:15 p.m. Sunday evening, a Cadillac Escalade barreled through the T-intersection at Union Avenue and Circular Street and into Congress Park, seeming to pay no heed to a fence and concrete posts along the way.

"They just plowed right through the fence and the post ... it didn't even slow the car down," said Tim Dawkins, a high school guidance counselor who happened to be waiting on Circular Street for the light to turn green. "Then they just kept going like nothing happened."

He and four other drivers pulled over to make sure no one was injured, Dawkins said, but the driver of the Cadillac was not among them.

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"It's amazing no one was hurt or killed," he said. "It was pretty scary."

The Saratoga Springs Police Department would not release the driver's name or additional information on the accident Monday because, officers said, the system used to file traffic infractions does not allow them to access the information for up to three days following its entry.

However, police did say they received reports of an erratic driver just before the accident occurred and that the 50-year-old driver of the Cadillac fled the scene but was apprehended in the parking lot behind the Banana Republic on Broadway.

Dawkins said he believes the Cadillac's rear license plate was torn off in the crash and left at the scene.

Officers administered a pre-screening test for drugs and alcohol, but no arrest was made. The driver was issued traffic tickets and released.

The investigation into the accident is ongoing; more charges are pending.

Less than an hour later and several blocks away, a driver who was allegedly intoxicated crashed into a building at Franklin and Division streets.

Christopher McCarthy, 42, of South Franklin Street was charged at around 8 p.m. Sunday with aggravated driving while intoxicated, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and driving while intoxicated, felonies.

While city police department procedures don't allow officers to release details about McCarthy's blood-alcohol content, the charges indicate it was higher than .18 percent.